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笨

Mandarin · pinyin bèn

stupid
foolish
silly
slow-witted
clumsy

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笨: bèn · foolish, stupid, dull; awkward

Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

4 · ben4

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1character link9same-tone records

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 5 senses · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

ban6

Cantonese word readings for 笨. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

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Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

character · Etymology 1

heavy; cumbersome; strenuous
stupid; foolish; silly; slow-witted
clumsy; awkward
(obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) inner part of bamboo

character · Etymology 2

(dialectal Cantonese, Hakka, dated in standard Cantonese) thick

Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history

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